In May 2005 we invited people of Birmingham to complain about anything they want and sing their complaints out together with fellow complainers. The project was open to everybody - no singing skills required. Many people sent in their complaints - about Birmingham, about other people, about world issues and most of all: about themselves. Fifteen people finally signed up to the project, who had the courage to take responsibility for their complaints. The Participants transformed the complaints into an impressive choir song during a two-week complaints workshop with the help of local musician Mike Hurley.

The complaints collected to the song vary from small daily irritations to global issues. Anything that truly annoys people is useful material for the Complaints Choir. In Birmingham people complained for example about unfriendly bus drivers, dead bananas and slow computers.

CREDITS

The Complaints Choir of Birmingham was produced and coordinated by Springhill Institute, Birmingham, Reuben Henry and Karin Kihlberg.